Breast Cancer Gene Discovered

The discovery of the breast cancer gene Brd4 can help predict the outcome of breast cancer patients and may also lead to new drugs to help cure the disease.

Scientist’s have uncovered the genetic fingerprint that determines whether breast cancers patients have a high risk of the disease spreading.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland have found a pattern of gene activity that can predict the individual risk for breast cancer metastasis (the spreading of the disease through the body).

The team found that this pattern is controlled by a single gene called bromodomain 4 (Brd4). By inserting this gene into lab mice, they were able to suppress tumor growth.

Results suggest that a drug that which mimics this effect could help treat the disease, opening up prospects for new treatments.

Dr Kent Hunter of NCI’s Centre for Cancer Research, of the team that reported the work said,

“These findings are exciting…. “For the first time in mice, we have a candidate gene for what drives an entire gene signature. This should allow a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying cancer progression in humans.”

Brd4 activity is part of an important cell process which includes proliferation of the cells as well as the replication of DNA.

Defects in these processes are well documented in breast cancer patients and the recent findings indicate that activation of Brd4 reduces tumor growth by influencing the response of tumor cells.

Dr Hunter’s team analyzed a set of 379 similar genes and found that the level of activation of Brd4 within a tumor was an important factor in determining if the patient would relapse or survive.

Although the team are not quite sure if this gene effects the spreading of the disease, the find has enabled them to predicts the survival or relapse of breast cancer patients.

“The results of this study and other work in our laboratory suggests that people with inherited differences in Brd4 and the proteins that it induces have a genetic predisposition for developing cancer metastasis,” he adds.

“A better understanding of this gene may lead to improved methods of diagnosing and treating cancer.”

Research now turns toward a drug which could possibly cure breast cancer, however the team says there is much work to be done,